4224

I have been writing about presidential self-pardons for years. My position has always been that they would be legally invalid. I have also believed that a self-pardon is unlikely to ever happen because there are too many incentives weighing against it. But I am not sure that applies to Trump, who has proved he has a high tolerance for personal risk and a taste for attempting the never-before attempted.

So what would happen if Trump attempted a self-pardon? First, some pardon fundamentals: Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution gives the president the power to “grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.” Pardons thus can only cover federal criminal offenses and cannot thwart an impeachment (which technically is not a criminal prosecution anyway).
[…]
There are two questions on the table. First, might Trump pardon himself? It is far too early to speculate about him facing criminal liability, but he certainly acts like someone who wouldn’t hesitate to deliver himself such a plum.

Second, if Trump did it, what would happen? This question is easier to answer. If he weren’t already on his way out of office, a self-pardon would bring nearer that day. Any prosecutor who was already pursuing him would not roll over and assume that the self-pardon was valid. Instead, the prosecutor would press forward and force the courts — and surely the Supreme Court, eventually — to decide the issue. The court could potentially rule either way. But one would hope it would rule in favor of justice and the rule of law and not in favor of unaccountable presidential plunder.

4225

But it has reemerged of late, given the spate of news articles concerning alleged wrongdoings in the Trump campaign and administration. If Trump violated some law, could he pardon himself?

The short answer is that no one really knows. The longer answer is that the reasons he might want to are more complex than we might usually assume.

“We can all only speculate what would happen if the president tried to do it,” said Brian Kalt, professor of law at Michigan State University and author of the book “Constitutional Cliffhangers.” “We’re all just predicting what the court would do if it happened, but no one can be sure.”
[…]
If Trump were to pardon himself, and if the courts were to sign off — ultimately meaning the Supreme Court, most likely — there’s not anything anyone could do about it. He’d be pardoned from prosecution for federal crimes under whatever limits he applied to his pardon, up until the point at which the pardon was granted.

If Trump really thinks the Russia investigation is an unfair witch hunt, that blanket of protection may prove remarkably alluring.

4226

They were pretty spot on:

Mr. Trump lacks the character, values, and experience to be President. He weakens U.S. moral authority as the leader of the free world. He appears to lack basic knowledge about and belief in the U.S. Constitution, U.S. laws, and U.S. institutions, including religious tolerance, freedom of the press, and an independent judiciary.

he persistently compliments our adversaries and threatens our allies and friends. … Mr. Trump has shown no interest in educating himself.

He is unable or unwilling to separate truth from falsehood. … He lacks self-control and acts impetuously.

4227

If that were to happen, then impeachment would need to happen, or removal by other means. Trump would blatantly hold himself above the law, beyond the law, and above the constitution. He would merely be a criminal, and should be treated as such.

4228

The way you phrased this in passive voice answers itself. Who is going to act? A few more traditional-minded Republicans, who will promptly be primaried in 2018?

4229

I used to think Trump would never fire Meuller. But the recent rhetoric looks more like he’s veering that way.

But who knows, right? It’s Trump. He’s impulsive and random and has minders. I’ve no idea what he’ll do, or what he’ll be allowed to do, and it remains insane he somehow ended up in charge of anything.

4230

Seems like a decent summary of Trump’s casting about for some way to neuter the Special Counsel.

Trump has been fuming about the probe in recent weeks as he has been informed about the legal questions that he and his family could face. His primary frustration centers on why allegations that his campaign coordinated with Russia should spread into scrutinizing many years of Trump dealmaking. He has told aides he was especially disturbed after learning Mueller would be able to access several years of his tax returns.

Again, the tax returns. There must be something pretty major in there or he wouldn’t be fighting to hard against releasing them. Is there a line item for “Hookers, Russian, Urinary Specialist”?

4231

I love the irony of him fuming over a spreading investigation when he pushed the whole Clinton email thing that only existed because of the Benghazi investigations.

But this is as simple as the tax return release question: if what this probe will find is worse than the fallout of firing Mueller, you fire Mueller. Then you pardon everyone and try to weather the storm.

All that matters is if Congress will do anything, and the answer is no at least until 2018.

4232

So, Exxon was just fined by the Trump administration for violating Russia sanctions (which they did under Tillerson - awkward!). The weird thing is they’ve been fined for doing a deal with a company (Rosneft) that wasn’t subject to sanctions, on the basis that its CEO, who signed the contract on behalf of the company, was. Which is a somewhat strange doctrine.If Rosneft is so inseparable from Sechin that doing a deal with the former means you’ve done a deal with the latter, why isn’t Rosneft subject to sanctions directly?

4233

Sounds like a good idea, is this the start of a arms race?

4234

How long before this esteemed firm is on board with POTUS?

4235

A bit off-topic, but I wonder how many people fully get the joke of their law firm’s name?

“Do we cheat 'em? And how!”

4236

I miss Car Talk.

4237

“They might have met even much more than just three times,” he told NBC News’ Keir Simmons in an exclusive interview, dismissing speculation about the leaders’ meetings.

“Maybe they went to the toilet together,” he joked.

Asked whether the two presidents had other conversations or met in the corridors of the G-20 meeting, Lavrov used the analogy of children mingling at a kindergarten.

“When you are bought by your parents to a kindergarten do you mix with the people who are waiting in the same room to start going to a classroom?” he asked.

He added: "I remember when I was in that position I did spend five or ten minutes in the kindergarten before they brought us to the classroom.”

4238

So the Russians are just fucking with us at this point. We’re just a running joke to them now.

4239

We were the second Trump won.

Him getting the nomination made us rubes, but it looked like he was going to lose, so they couldn’t dismiss us. Then he won.

4240

Hence the “voter fraud” commission as a method to stack the deck.

4241

Special counsel Robert Mueller has asked the White House to preserve all documents relating to the June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower that Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort had with a Russian lawyer and others, according to a source who has seen the letter.

Mueller sent a notice, called a document preservation request, asking White House staff to save “any subjects discussed in the course of the June 2016 meeting” and also “any decisions made regarding the recent disclosures about the June 2016 meeting,” according to the source, who read portions of the letter to CNN.

The letter from Mueller began: “As you are aware the Special Counsel’s office is investigating the Russian government’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, including any links or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of Donald Trump. Information concerning the June 2016 meeting between Donald J Trump Jr and Natalia Veselnitskaya is relevant to the investigation.”

The preservation request is broad and includes text messages, emails, notes, voicemails and other communications and documentation regarding the June 2016 meeting and any related communication since then.

4242

Somewhat reassuring:

4243

Backlash = “this is troubling.”